Facing investigation, head of FBI's D.C. office to retire

The head of the FBI's Washington field office is retiring amid an investigation into whether he violated rules while taking an examination earlier this year, according to an article by The Post's Carrie Johnson.

According to sources:

Persichini had been under internal FBI scrutiny in connection with an exam covering the bureau's guidelines for conducting investigations. The guidelines, revised late last year at the end of the Bush administration, spell out how agents should pursue criminal and national security leads. The FBI required a 16-hour training to learn the guidelines, capped by an electronic exam in which test-takers could consult their course materials.

Persichini, whose title is assistant director in charge of Washington, attracted management attention when he allegedly completed the open-book exam in less than 20 minutes and with a very high score, the sources said. Some test-takers required more than two hours to complete the exam, the sources said.